An Audience of Stars
by Green Giant Uranus
Summary: Clay always seemed like a simple guy. He was usually happy and if he wasn't, he normally didn't show it. He liked food and his friends and being back home in Texas. He seemed like he didn't have any troubles. Certainly not some one with a broken family or a broken heart. But when somebody from his past appears one day, Clay's friends realized that he is an extremely complex guy.


"Clay?"

Although it came out sounding like a question, you could tell just by looking at her face, her body language, she knew exactly who this was. His back was facing her, since she had approached him from behind. When she had spoken he froze, taking a long pause before responding. Apparently, he knew who it was too. His didn't even come out as a question.

"Annie."

Dojo had just called us in for dinner. After a long day of training, we were all pretty hyped, but our short journey to the dining hall had been interrupted by this sudden guest. As we hiked back up to the temple, the sunset at our backs, a shadow had been cast down across the grass and we all turned back to see who it was. All of us, except Clay, of course. Too focused on food, I guess. The minute he hard her voice, the smile from his face fell, replaced by an unreadable expression.

Finally, the cowboy turned to face this 'Annie.' Neither one of them talked. They just spent the next few minutes taking each other in, studying the others appearance. After all, we had been training at the temple for quite a while now. Whoever this was to Clay obviously hadn't seen him for some time.

I took the chance to study her too. She was fairly tall, standing maybe, 5'8"- 5'11". Her dirty blonde hair reached just past her shoulders. Her eyes were blue, looking similar to Clay's, and yet they were so different. His were soft and gentle and light like a cloudless sky. Annie's were icy, but not in a way that she was cruel or merciless. That was just the color they were. She wore work jeans and cowboy boots. Her button up plaid shirt hugged her figure nicely. Although she looked tired and worn, she was still pretty stunning.

I looked over at my other team mates for their feedback. Omi just looked lost. The moment I saw Kimiko's face, I knew that she was searching her memory for any "Annie's" Clay might have mentioned from back home. Now that I thought about it, the name "Annie" rang a bell, and her face _did_ seem familiar...

Hmmm... Annie, Annie, Annie...

Then it hit me. I recognized her from the time we first visited Clay's house. I remembered getting there that afternoon, asking for the Star of Hanabi. As we got settled in, I walked down the hallway and looked at the pictures hanging on the wall. Younger forms of Clay's father stood next to a very pretty woman with light blonde hair and pretty green eyes. It was weird to actually see Daddy Bailey smile, considering the gruff man he was. There was another child in the photos that I guess to be Clay's sibling, although it was hard to tell it's gender, since it was a baby in the pictures. As I studied the family portraits, I noticed that Clay looked mostly like his father. The same face, the same build, the same eyes, but he had the exact same hair as the beautiful woman, who was probably the reason for Daddy Bailey's rare smile.

But then I had come across a picture that had a different set of people in it. A little blonde girl with a toothy grin was flanked by none other than a seven-year-old Clay Bailey. Behind them was a row of five red-headed boys, ranging from the ages of eight to thirteen. It was dark and they were all wearing summer attire. Each of them held a sparkler and there seemed to be a blur at the bottom right corner that resembled a dog running around, probably looking for table scraps at this Fourth of July celebration.

Was this girl Clay's sibling? No, she was about the same age as him. She couldn't possibly be the baby from the other photos.

I remember sitting down for dinner around the table that night. Daddy Bailey had just blessed the food and we started digging in. It was obvious where Clay had gotten his appetite. I had to admit, this "Southern home cooking" thing certainly didn't disappoint, but the meal took a turn for the worst when Clay asked a simple question. Unfortunately for him, there was a complicated answer.

"Where's Annie? She always over on Sunday evenings." Daddy Bailey paused from eating his food, which he hadn't done since he said "amen." He hesitated, as if deciding whether or not this should be a dinner conversation. Looking back, it should have been discussed in private, and I'm sure it would have been if Daddy Bailey had known how Clay would react. With heavy sigh, Daddy Bailey answered.

"She's gone."

"What do you mean 'gone?'" Clay had stopped eating altogether, even putting his fork down. He stared at his father with a deadly look, as if warning him to choose his next words carefully.

"After you left, she told me she was leaving too," Daddy Bailey said without looking up from his plate. He was eating again, but much slower than before. Suddenly, a loud bang, closely followed by the rattle of silverware and plates, sounded through the room, stopping all eating. Clay had hit his fists against the table while standing up. He glared at his father so powerfully, I was surprised that his dad didn't burst into flames on the spot.

"She told you she was leaving?! And you didn't even _try _to stop her?!" Clay shouted. I had never seen him so angry before. Clay was always so calm and steady and easy-going. That was why his element was earth, right? Not only had I never seen him this angry, but to yell at his father? That didn't sound like Clay. Daddy Bailey was obviously important to Clay. He desperately wanted to make him proud. That was why we were in this mess in the first place-why Clay had been at home and why we were trying to convince Daddy Bailey to let him back on the team. So why was he acting out now? Finally, Daddy Bailey looked Clay in the eye with a glare of his own.

"You really think that I could've stopped her?"

I vaguely remember Kimiko leaning over and whispering in my ear, "Somebody who can't be bossed around by Daddy Bailey? I gotta meet this girl." The action had sent chills down my back, but I tried to cover up that fact by nodding in agreement.

Clay was grinding his teeth, but he didn't speak. Whether it was because Daddy Bailey had made a good point or because Clay had nothing left to say, I wasn't sure. Without finishing his food, Clay headed for the front door.

"Where do you think you're going, Boy?"

"Out," Clay barked just before slamming the door.

Needless to say, the rest of the meal went on silently, other than the uncomfortable scrape of silverware. By the time we went to bed that night, Clay still hadn't returned. But the next morning, when we were forced to rise at those ungodly hours, he was there with the usual cowboy smile on. I had the feeling he was putting on a mask. He was trying to convince us that he was alright, silently asking us not to press the matter or question him. He was always good at that. Speaking without words. He could almost always get the right message across with an expression on his face or a simple action, whether it was intentional or not. So, when he did this, none of us mentioned the night before.

Even though he wanted to hide it, Clay obviously cared deeply for this girl. He was upset that she wasn't there. So maybe that was why it was so surprising to him that she now stood before him at the Xioalin Temple at sunset nearly a year later.

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**Hey there! So this is a story that has been on my mind for quite a while now and I thought I would give it a try. I deeply apologize to those who were reading my other story _Nonfiction, _but I just needed a break from that one. Reality can wear you out, and I needed some fictional stuff to focus on. ****School has also been very trying lately, not to mention piano contest coming up in a few weeks. So, again, I am very sorry.**

**So, what do you think of this chapter? Like it? Hate it? Tell me about it! Good, interesting plot? Characters OOC? Let me know! Grammatical mistakes? Bite my head off for it! :D Haha, but seriously review, please! Mama needs some feedback! **

**Until next time! - GGU**


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